Happy #tbt, everyone! Today’s throwback thursday comes to you all the way from 2008. Do you ever have a morning when you are hunting, and you think, “Wow. This will never happen again. I am going to remember this forever,”..? This was one such morning. A one-of-a-kind morning. My dad and I were deer hunting (still hunting, that it) near Sandy Run, SC on a cool, crisp day. The fog had started to dissipate shortly after sunrise, and the sound of the woods waking up could be heard through what was left of it. All of a sudden, my dad nudged me. “Hollis! Look!” There was such excitement in his voice, I quickly turned around and tried to spot what he was looking at. That’s when I saw the coyote quietly sneaking through the brush, right on the edge of the little clearing where our stand was. “Can I shoot him?!” Shocking, right? Haha I tend to have a pretty itchy trigger finger. My dad gave the ok, I got my rifle up, and as soon as the coyote paused for a second, pulled the trigger. BOOM! And down he went. I don’t think he stood much chance against my .308. Woooo, and high fives all around. After about 5 minutes, the crows and other birds in the woods starting making such a ruckus over the coyote laying below them, it was becoming clear we needed to act fast. My dad quickly jumped down out of the stand, ran over to the coyote, and dragged it further into the woods and out of sight. Finally, the birds calmed down.  

But, the morning didn’t stop there. I know what you’re thinking- how could we possibly see anything else after a loud rifle shot, and enough bird noise to make someone think we were remaking an Alfred Hitchcock movie. We thought the same thing, but decided to wait it out, just in case. Who doesn’t love being in the woods in the morning, anyways, right? Well, what do you know? Our waiting paid off. About 30 minutes later, I notice some movement about 80 yards away through a little clearing. Out walks an 8 point buck. Oh my holy stars, I could not believe my luck. While his rack was a bit small, he was still had an 8 pt rack, outside the ears, and I could tell through my scope that he was an older deer, turning gray around his face and under his chin. (I am a full supporter of the let them go so they can grow mindset- you should be too!) Focus the cross hairs, click off the safety, and with one more BOOM for the morning, I had a buck on the ground as well! I still get “buck fever” with does, so I was definitely shaking from adrenaline with this guy. My dad was, too, with many a high-five and pat on the back, saying “Bear! Nice work! Oh man, what a morning!”

I couldn’t agree more. What. A. Morning. A one of a kind morning.